Maggie McKay (Host): Welcome to Stoughton Health Talk. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Today, we're going to get to know cardiologist, Dr. Raaid Museitif, his role, his philosophy, and how he unwinds after work. Great to have you here today, Dr. Museitif.

Raaid Museitif, MD: Hey, it's great to be here, Maggie. Hope all is well.

Host: Can you share a bit about your journey into medicine and what led you to specialize in heart care?

Raaid Museitif, MD: Yeah, I appreciate that. I'm actually born and raised in Wisconsin. I'm from a small town too, Kenosha, Wisconsin. I ended up going to the University of Wisconsin undergrad, and I stayed there for medical school. But my parents weren't physicians. My dad worked in one of the factories. And so, most of my exposure of medicine was just my own pediatrician who kind of inspired me. And then, when I went to medical school, you kind of gravitate towards something that grabs you. And I just always thought that the heart and cardiology were fascinating, and I just ended up doing it.

Host: A cardiologist seems like such a big responsibility. Did you ever consider like it might be too nerve-wracking, because it's kind of life and death, right?

Raaid Museitif, MD: Yeah, it is. But like I tell my patients, I didn't invent any of this. I went to school for a long time, you know, over 16 years, I think 17 years. So, they just train you, just like anything else. If you come to my house, I can't change a tire or change the oil in my car. Most of the people watching this would say, "Well, I could do that. I wouldn't hire anybody to do that." I don't feel comfortable because I just never had the training. And being a doctor or being in medicine is very the same. I didn't invent any of these steps, but we just had people hold our hands and show us how to do it.

And so to answer your question, because it's just step by step by step, you tend not to think about that. But when you are doing heart procedures, people can die. And that is serious. And we are aware of that, and you have to be aware of that to be a good provider. But, you know, we're well trained. It's a lot of years of school.

Host: Did you ever get to tell any of your past doctors, like your pediatrician, et cetera, that you went into medicine somewhat because of them?

Raaid Museitif, MD: Yeah, I wish I could have. She actually passed away, so I never got to tell her. But she was a big inspiration, because she was just always nice. Every time we went there, she was patient and caring. And I just thought the way everybody looked at her and how she would make people feel better, I thought that was cool, for a lack of a better word. But you just made me wish that I would've told her that. And so, now, I kind of regret that.

Host: She knows. Isn't that true? I always tell my son being nice, people underestimate it. It goes a long way if you ask me, especially in our world today. But what advice do you most often share with patients about maintaining a healthy heart?

Raaid Museitif, MD: It's the basics. I think everybody who's watching this show and all my patients, and you and all your friends, you know somehow we have a sense of what's good and what's bad for us. Just kind of like what we have a sense of like what's right and wrong. People always say, "Well, what kind of food should I eat?" Well, it's simply, if it tastes good, don't eat it. If it tastes bad, it's probably good for you. So, what I mean by that is if it's really salty and fatty and full of other things that are really heavy, we're not telling you not to live life and eat some of it, but there's got to be a balance, and you know it. You know, you don't need three orders of french fries. But try to avoid those types of foods. Avoid the processed foods that, you know, you pop a bag and you can go right from the bag to your mouth, sugars and chips and candy.

And it's very hard for me. I grew up in a big family. And if we didn't eat the snacks, my older brothers would eat the snacks. So, I can't have any snacks in my house, I have to finish the bag. So, I've learned not to have it in my home. So, that's a trick. So, eating right, eating healthy. And watching your portions. You can see a lot of Europeans, you know, they eat a lot of butter and food and bread, but they don't look as big as us. And that's because we're lucky to be in a rich country where we have cars and buses. And our portion sizes-- and that's where I'm leading to-- are just too big. And I feel the same way growing up in Wisconsin. If I went to a restaurant, and they gave me a small portion, I was upset. I'm still upset. I want a big portion. But then, you have to learn that, "Well then, just cut it in half, and eat the other half later."

The other thing that you realize is, once you get used to that, it works. Your brain, there's a center, the satiety center that tells you that you're full. Sometimes it takes a time for it to register what you ate. So if you just eat a little bit, and then wait a little while, you find yourself get full. So, portion sizes, picking the right food. We understand that. I don't need to tell you which foods are good. Everybody knows.

Exercise. You got to exercise. Well, what does that look like? You know, "I don't have time to go to the gym. I don't have the money for the gym." But you can try to walk the best you can. So, there are studies that show that if you add an additional 30 minutes of walking in an entire week, 30 minutes in an entire week above and beyond what you're doing now, you can reduce the likelihood of dying from a heart attack and stroke by 14%. That's like six minutes a day of extra walking above and beyond what you're doing. Now, a lot of my patients say, "Doc, you know, I watch my steps and I've been walking X and Y amount of steps," that's great. But what I'm talking about is above and beyond that. So, trying to do that. Eating right, eating smaller portions, exercising.

And then, the other things, taking care of your health. So, your blood pressure, making sure that your blood pressure, that you've been screened. And if you have hypertension, that you're on the right medications and you're monitoring it, and you're at a good range. Diabetes, if you have diabetes, making sure that your blood sugars are corrected, that you take your medications properly. If you have high cholesterol, making sure that you're diagnosed and treated, and treated to goal.

The reason why I sound like a broken record is because, for example, high cholesterol, only half of the Americans are ever screened to be diagnosed. And then, half of the diagnosis, people with high cholesterol are treated. And then, half of the people who are treated are treated to goal. So, being aware, initiating a treatment-- and it doesn't have to be medicine-- but initiating a treatment and making sure you're at goal with those three things. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, those three are the big players for your heart. Eating healthy and trying to increase your exercise.

Host: I have to tell you, once, many, many years ago, I was in good shape. I was eating lunch at a very famous deli, which, you know, delis are just right there. It's not going to be healthy. And I had like a burger and fries, I think. And they were closed seats, and the man next to me said, "I'm a cardiologist, and I just urge you to just give up french fries for life." They are so bad for you. And I'm like, "What in the world?" Like, I didn't ask him, but he kind of ruined french fries for me for life. But I'm kind of grateful he did that. But I thought it was hilarious. He was a cardiologist, and he saw what I was eating. He's like, "Don't eat that." Anyway, that stuck with me for decades, I have to say. So, is there a common misconception about heart health that you often find yourself correcting?

Raaid Museitif, MD: Well, I think there's just a lot of misinformation. I think it's hard sometimes for me, I try, but it's hard for me sometimes to imagine what the world would look like if I wasn't a physician or a cardiologist and had to think about these issues. We're living in a different time. You and I grew up in the same era. We didn't have cell phones. You know, we had a phone in the house they had to dial. What I mean by that is we didn't really have access to all this information. And when I was in school and when you were studying, we'd have to go to library and pull articles and try to read whole articles to kind of get one little fact that we try to put together when we try to answer things. Now, the world can just go on their phone and look stuff up.

The problem in medicine, and this is a generic question to your specific question, and the generic question is you can go online and look up things and get answers, but the problem with medicine is it is not an exact science. It is not physics, it is not mathematics. One plus one is not two. We do not have formulas like that. And the research and the answers that you can pull up off the internet, I think it's positive, read them. But just be aware that there are a lot of different types of studies, and you have to go into the studies and see how they were designed by who and what were the inclusion and exclusion criteria, what were the methods, what was the actual conclusion, and how does it fit to you and your characteristics. And that's very difficult.

So, I think the misconception is people do go online, get information, and they really come in with this information, armed with it. And we sometimes have to take some time to kind of explain that. So, there's positives from that, you should know about your health. You should take some ownership and do your own research, but also be aware that it's just that training. And I tell my patients I can read a book about driving a submarine, but I don't think it's advisable for you to get in a submarine with me, because, you know, I read a bunch of books. There's some things, the tricks of the trade, et cetera. So, read about it, but keep an open mind when you go to your provider and bring that up. Just understand that you might be getting one story on the internet, but there's a lot of other things.

So, I think the misconceptions are that people get a lot of information, and they can be swayed one way or the other. And that information may not apply to them specifically, and that's not a positive thing for your health.

Host: I'm sure you're at the hospital a lot of hours a day. But when you're not there, what are some of your favorite ways to relax or recharge outside of work?

Raaid Museitif, MD: Yeah, that's a great question. That time's getting smaller and smaller, you know. But I love working out. I play sports. I love playing tennis. I go to the gym. I oil paint. I hang out with friends. During the pandemic, I picked up cooking. I never know how to cook. I'm still not that good, but that's fun.

Host: I'm with you. I never learned to cook, but I bake at least. Yeah, it would be more helpful to cook for sure. That's awesome. In closing, is there anything else you'd like people to know about you?

Raaid Museitif, MD: Just realize that, you know, we care about our patients. We believe in healthcare equity. We believe in shared decision-making, meaning we want everybody to be able to get equal care, the best care, the best care locally so you don't have to travel. And that we make decisions together where we are your information source and we present you the risk-benefits, the options, and those decisions are made as a team. Those are kind of our principles, and we're happy to be here. And hopefully, people will appreciate getting good local care.

Host: That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing today. This has been very informative and fun. We appreciate your time.

Raaid Museitif, MD: Thank you, Maggie. I appreciate your time. And you guys have a great day.

Host: Again, that's Dr. Raad Museitif. If you'd like to find out more, please visit stoughtonhealth.com. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks for listening to Stoughton Health Talk.